Automatic safety-clutch



(No Model.)

B. E. HENRIKSEN. Automatic Safety Clutch.

No. 229,606. Patented July 6, 1880.

E F: b F

ll f B l f l l w 33 e s Yaw eut m- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BERNHARDT E. HENRIKSEN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY-CLUTCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,606, dated July 6, 1880.

Application filed May 3, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNHARDT E. HEN- RIKSEN, of the city and county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented an Automatic Safety-Clutch; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to certain improvements in elevators and hoists of any description, and its object is to secure the same against the sudden falls or violent and rapid descent usually caused by the breaking of the cable or derangements of the hoisting apparatus.

My invention consists in the employment of certain levers and catches in connection with the elevator-frame, which will be actuated by any unusual speed of the descending cage or platform and cause it to stop.

Referring to the accompanying drawing for a more complete explanation of my invention, the figure is a perspective view of an elevatorcage to which my invention is applied.

A B constitute the usual frame and platform, and O the guide-postsof an elevator. D D are trip-levers, each provided with a-roller, a, at the upper extremity. E F are cams or safety-clutches mounted on shafts I), which are set in suitable boxes inthe angular frames G. The frames G are strongly bolted to the side timbers and the upper bar, and are made thicker in the angle, so as to receive the pins of the safety-catches and bear the strain when they are thrown into contact with the guides. This prevents the drawing out of the bar A and the consequent spreading of the cage by this action.

H H are bosses or cleats set on the guideposts 0, and used for throwing off the trip-1evers D D.

When my device is applied to an elevator the trip-levers D are journaled upon the shaft b, and either fastened directly to the cams E or connected therewith by means of pins, teeth, or any other device.

The upper ends of the levers are inclined outward, so that the rollers a will constantly bear against and rotate along the guide-posts O at the ordinary rate of speed of the cage, and also over the surface of the bosses H, by reason of the position of the levers and the weight of the rollers at the top end.

Should the cable part or any portion of the machinery break and allow the cage to descend too rapidly, the rollers a are brought in violent contact with the bosses H, which, having a sharp incline on the top part, will throw them, and consequently the trip-levers D, inward. This movement, by reason of the connection before described, will cause the catches E F to rotate outward and come in contact with the guide-posts O and the bosses H, so as to engage with them and act as brakes or safety-clutches and prevent the cage from falling farther.

The eccentrics or cams F are toothed on the outer surface and form a powerful wedgebra-ke, which increasesin power in proportion to the strain which is brought upon them, and will instantaneously stop the motion of the falling cage.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The trip -levers D, mounted upon the frame A B, so as to be actuated by contact with the bosses H or similar devices, and connectcd with the safetyalutches of an elevator,

so as to cause them to operate, substantially as herein described.

2. The trip-levers I), provided with the rollers a, and supported from the frame A, so as to be actuated by the momentum acquired by the contact with the bosses H, and connected with the cams or catches E F, so as to cause them to act, substantially as herein described.

3. The bosses or cleats H, set upon the guideposts 0, so as to throw out the trip-levers D when the rollers a are brought in violent contact therewith, substantially as herein described.

4E. The trip-levers D, with the rollers a, movably connected with the cage A B, in combination with the cams or catches E F, the angular braces G, the shaft b, and the bosses H, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

B. E. HENBIKSEN.

Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, FRANK A. BROOKS. 

